Rod Schneider

2005-02-19T13:26:00.000-05:00

Whats shakin at rodzart in February.

Well I've finally got enough money to buy some materials and get painting again. I had to stop painting from about October through mid January since I ran out of canvas and paint. I was able to find a J-O-B which isn't totally mind numbing and brings in enough dough to buy what I need. I've got 18 paintings finished for this year already with more in the works.
The moral to this sad story folks is: buy something! This stuff will be worth a lot someday, so get'em while there cheap.
I'm really flattered that so many people visit my web site and also vist my auctions, but ya know, if nobody whips out a checkbook once in a while, it can be tough to keep painting. Nuff said there.

New stuff on the web site

I've updated my web site galleries with a bunch of new paintings, and I'm going to try to add most of the 2004 stuff soon.

Until now, if I had a painitng listed on aution sites I didn't post it to the web site, but I think I'm going to go ahead and try to get everything on the site. So, it you see a painting with something like "please email for availability and price" down on the bottom next to "availability", email me and I'll let you know if its on an auction site or otherwise available.

Auction newz

I've got auctions going right now on eBay, Overstock.com and ArtByUs. I hope you'll give them a look.
That stuff can be had at a pretty good price. Just a reminder, my eBay id is: rod698 and my id on ArtByUs, Overstock.com and Zazzle is: Rodzart. Remember, you can buy all you want, I'll paint more!

Hope everyone has a great month!!….Rod

2005-01-06T15:07:00.000-05:00

New links on links page

I've added a couple of links to my links page.

One is: Overstock.com. This is my auction page on Overstock.com. I hope you'll give it a look.

Next is: My son Brian's site, Schneidercentral.com. This is a family site being constructed by my son Brian.

Auction newz

I've got auctions going right now on eBay, Overstock.com and ArtByUs. I hope you'll give them a look.
That can be had at a pretty good price. Just a reminder, my eBay id is: rod698 and my id on
ArtByUs, Overstock.com and Zazzle is: Rodzart. You can reach my auction sites through the link on your left.
Remember, you can buy all you want, I'll paint more!

Hope everyone has a great week!!….Rod

2004-08-12T10:18:00.000-04:00

What's shakin' at Rodzart 8/12/2004

New links on links page

I've added a couple of links to my links page. One is: The Toledo Lowbrow Art Collective. This is a group of very talented artists in Toledo, Ohio. While there subject matter may not be to everyone's taste, the art itself is done very well. Admire the execution if not the subject. So give it a look.

Next is: My friend Heather's site. Heather is a fantastic artist, formerly of Seffner, Florida...where I live now, and currently living in Oregon. Her painted furniture and canvases are really something to behold. Check out her site.

Stormz a comin'

At this time, Thrursday, August 12, hurricane Charlie is predicted to make a direct hit on the Tampa Bay area tomorrow.
My best wished go out to my friends in Jamaica who bear the brunt of this storm today. Looks like its going to be an interesting weekend.

Auction newz

I've got auctions going right now on both eBay and ArtByUs. On eBay I've got some
abstract expressions done with acrylic on watercolour paper.
That can be had at a pretty good price. Just a reminder, my eBay id is: rod698 and my id on
ArtByUs and Zazzle is: Rodzart. You can reach both auction sites through the link on your left.
Remember, you can buy all you want, I'll paint more!

Hope everyone has a great week!!….Rod

2004-08-04T12:32:00.000-04:00

What's shakin' at Rodzart 8/04/2004

Zazzle affiliation!

I've been looking for an economical way to produce prints for some time now. It can be rather expense to produce prints in small quantities, which of course means having to charge more for them. However, I just affiliated with Zazzle.com
which can produce prints to order, in addition to apparel products and cards. The upside for me is that it doesn't cost me anything up front, which right now, is a major advantage. The upside for you is by doing this the cost is kept low.
I've put eight paintings up on Zazzle at the moment which you can view
here. If you'd like to see other paintings available as either prints or T-shirts, by all means drop me an email and I'll see what I can do.

Rodz in the World Artist Directory

Yepper, I've been listed in the World artist directory. You can see the directory by clicking
here.

Auction newz

I've got a bunch of auctions going right now on both eBay and ArtByUs. On eBay I've got some
abstract expressions done with acrylic on watercolour paper.
That can be had at a pretty good price. Just a reminder, my eBay id is: rod698 and my id on
ArtByUs and Zazzle is: Rodzart. You can reach both auction sites through the link on my siteRodzart.com
Remember, you can buy all you want, I'll paint more!

Hope everyone has a great week!!….Rod

2004-06-30T12:08:00.000-04:00

What's shakin' at Rodzart 6/30/2004

Geez what a week!

OY! what a week I've had. Everythig was going fine until last Thursday evening when we had are
usual thunderstorm. Thats really no biggie either, usually, this time we had a lightning
hit really close by and the resulting power spike fried my NIC (thats the card in my PC which
connects my cable modem to my PC).
Well, no problem I had an old one so I should be able to pop it right in and everything will
be rosey...right?
NOT! For some bizarre reason by "brand N" anti-virus software wouldn't allow my PC to install
the board.
After westling with my "brand N" software from Monday morning to Sunday evening, I finally
managaed to get the board installed, and my system back up. Some days I get really nostalgic
for my VIC 20.

Guest book

I just wanted to thank those who sign my guest book. Your comments are very much appreciated.
I intentionally don't ask for email addresses on the guestbook to protect you from spammers,
so if you desire a response to ay question or comment remember to email me.

New painting in the Still Life gallery

I've added the painting Old Friends to the Still Life gallery.

Added Galleries page to navbar

I re-arranged the way you access my galleries via the site navbar. The navbar is the area to the
left of the screen where the menu is. The navbar was getting a bit long and parts of it were
scrolling off the screen, so I shortened it to keep the important things always in view.
To get to a gallery now, you click the Rodz Galleries link, and from there you can get to any of
my galleries.

Auction newz

I've got a bunch of auctions going this week on both eBay and ArtByUs. On eBay I've got some
abstract expressions done with acrylic on watercolour paper.
That can be had at a pretty good price. Just a reminder, my eBay id is: rod698 and my id on
ArtByUs is: Rodzart. Just do a search by id and you'll be able to see all my auctions for
that site.
Remember, you can buy all you want, I'll paint more!

Remember to stop by the website to see all the goodies. www.rodzart.com

Hope everyone has a great week!!….Rod

2004-06-22T15:11:00.000-04:00

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 6/21/2004

Lightning win Stanley cup!
I’ve had a pretty busy week or two. My hockey team, The Tampa Bay Lightning, won the Stanley cup, and we did a good deal of celebrating there. Congratulations the whole Lightning organization for their dedication and hard work!

Howlin’ at the moon selected for Abstract Art Repository
I’ve also had a painting. Howlin’ at the moon, selected for posting on the Abstract Art Repository web site. The painting can be found in the new artists gallery at: Abstract Art Repository

The Abstract Art Repository maintains images of abstract paintings from masters of the past, and from more contemporary abstract artists, such as myself.

The Abstract Art repository is a site that depends on public support to survive, and I highly encourage you to donate if you can. I’m putting a link to them on my links page.

Paintings added to Galleries
Over this past weekend I added over a dozen new paintings to the site in the Abstract and Landscape galleries. Most are available, but a few have been sold.
Remember to stop by the website to see all the goodies. www.rodzart.com

Auction newz
I’ve got a bunch of auctions going this week on both eBay and ArtByUs. On eBay I’ve got some abstract expressions done with acrylic on watercolour paper

They can be had at a pretty good price. Just a reminder, my eBay id is: rod698 and my id on ArtByUs is: Rodzart. Just do a search by id and you’ll be able to see all my auctions for that site. There's also links to my auctions on the web site. Remember, you can buy all you want, I’ll paint more!

Hope everyone has a great week!!….Rod

2004-05-30T14:00:00.000-04:00

What Abstract Expressionism means to me
Rod Schneider
May 29, 2004

To me, the main thrust of Abstract Expressionism is to further the belief that art doesn’t really have to be a “picture” of anything. Art does not require a recognizable object to be art.

Any painting, regardless of the subject, will evoke different responses depending on the viewer. In landscape and still life painting, and especially in portraiture, the burden is on the artist to convey his message to the viewer. Conversely, an Abstract Expression (my version) shifts to the viewer the ability to define a meaning to the work. It can mean anything the viewer desires.

For example, I’m currently completing a landscape called “Fall Road”. Now, it really doesn’t take a Nostredamus to figure out what that painting is about. On the other hand, I recently competed an Abstract Expression called “Blue Blazes”. Every one of you now has a different idea of what that painting looks like.

My Abstract Expressions are intended to evoke a response in the viewer. Whether the response is joy, anger, confusion, or projectile vomiting, is completely up to the viewer.
As long as I get a response, the painting has served its purpose.

I don’t usually do any advance planning for my Abstract Expressions. I simply step up to a blank canvas and start painting whatever comes to mind. Why the brush goes where it does, and why I choose a particular color, I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t want to know. I just let it happen. Sometimes I do shapes, sometimes I do color fields, and sometimes, I just do random brush strokes. Whatever seems like the thing to do at the time.

What exactly does an Abstract Expression express? Beats me. I’d like to think it’s some sort of “joie de vie”, but I don’t really know. That’s another one that I really don’t want to know. I promise you though; I’m stone cold sober every time I paint one..

The famous Abstract expressionists like Jackson Pollack (my favorite), Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell (another fav) and Willem De Kooning, tended to work on very large canvases. I don’t. Why not?

First, I want the viewer to be able to see the entire painting without moving. Second, my work tends to appeal mainly to younger, working people, who simply don’t have the money to buy a huge painting, much less anywhere to hang one. Since most of my work is sold on the net, I ship paintings all over the world, and shipping a large painting, larger say than 24 X 36 gets really expensive and difficult. Particularly since I will NOT take a canvas off its stretchers and ship it rolled up like so much newspaper. If you don’t respect your work, no one else will either.

That being said however, (shameless commercial plug coming up) if you’ve got the dough to pay for it, and the mozuma to ship it, I’ll paint you a canvas any size you want.

So, there you have what Abstract Expressionism means to me. I paint Abstract Expressions because I like to. They seem to satisfy some bizarre need within me, and I seem to be rather good at it.

It’s my great hope that you will find some pleasure within my paintings, that’s why I do it.

2004-03-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

Simplicity. Perhaps if there is any word to best describe my art, and in fact, me, it would be simplicity.

I abhor unnecessary complexity and I seek to avoid it, not just in my abstract art but in my landscapes and still life's as well.

In early 2003 I painted my first abstract paintings, and discovered that I rather liked it.
Since that time I've become increasing interested in abstract expressionism. I've been very drawn to the work of Mondrian, Pollock and Rothko. These three artists, to me, pushed back the boundaries of art while still retaining a simplicity and dignity that I admire.

I've started to apply the concept of simplicity to my landscapes, as seen in my generic beach scene "La plage",
and also in my still life work as can be seen in my sunflower paintings. These paintings create a scene into which the viewer can mentally add whatever details are desired. We all already do that subconsciously, so I'm trying to take advantage of that.

I might add here though, that while I certainly have my own ideas about art in general, and techniques in particular.
I take great care never to look down my nose at anyone else's work. I treat everyone's efforts with respect and demand the same in return.
I do what I do, I paint what I paint. If you like it great, if you don't, just keep going.

Going back a little, I think my first artistic experience was in the second or third grade. I was coloring outside of the lines, and my teacher told me that I had no talent and couldn't draw. That was about 1957. My next attempt at art was in 1989 when my wife bought me a Bob Ross paint set for Christmas.

I tried a painting, and it was hideous. But, there was one little twig that looked almost right. So I tried another painting. I got a twig and a leaf right. I managed to go to a few workshops, and after lots of practice, gradually I began to improve.

I soon had gone about as far as the wet in wet technique would take me, so I engaged in a good deal of self-study, and later enrolled in the University of Alaska, Southeast to study drawing and painting.

Five hundred or so canvases later and here I am. Still coloring outside of the lines.

You are invited to visit my website at www.rodzart.com

When I'm not painting I'm an avid fan of the TampaBay Lightning, and (when they're not playing the lightning), the Montreal Canadiens. I also enjoy science fiction and Reggae and Soca music.